Taking sexual perverts off line

CONVICTED sex offenders could be banned from using social media as part of a major overhaul of the state's child protection system.

The government is considering strengthening legislation to ban sex offenders from using sites like Facebook, and making it a crime to post offensive material about child protection workers online.

Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward will today publish a discussion paper outlining the changes she is proposing for the sector.

As part of a policy to make the system "child-focused", the government will consider making it an offence for an identified sex offender to use social media.

The discussion paper suggests this would make it easier to prosecute paedophiles for "grooming" children online.

"Social media is a very common technology for paedophiles to groom young children," she said.

Ms Goward said NSW Police should co-operate with enforcing the ban, however hard it may be.

"It is very difficult to do, but there is not a single parent in NSW who doesn't worry who is looking at their child's Facebook," Ms Goward said.

"I'd be very disappointed if government departments or law enforcement agencies said this is too hard. Social media is a problem, no parent in NSW would say it was not."

Ms Goward said she expected the discussions about her proposals to be "robust," but said she was "not frightened of a fight".

"We need to acknowledge there is a problem," she said.

Ms Goward said US jurisdictions had effectively introduced a similar ban.

The paper also suggests that it should be easier to prosecute people who post names and pictures of children who are in the care of Family and Community Services, or who are likely to be mentioned in Children's Court.

The paper suggests the current protections against this, and against the online harassment of child protection workers, are not sufficient.

As The Daily Telegraph revealed last week, the proposed changes to child protection in NSW will also include a crackdown on deadbeat parents. Ms Goward has proposed courts be given the power to force parents to go to drug and alcohol rehabilitation - whether the child is born or not.

This restriction would apply to parents who are known to the Department of Family and Community Services, and who have a history of substance abuse or domestic violence.

Following public consultation, the government expects to introduce the relevant legislation to parliament next year.